Over the years, Vietnam’s corn production has obtained many achievements; however, Vietnam’s corn yield is still low and the country still needs to import an increasing volume and value of corn for livestock feed. According to experts, in the context of fragmented corn production, it is not only difficult but also costly to accurately assess production status and productivity in traditional methods. Hence, Vietnam needs to develop a modern system to assess the current crop production and forecast productivity as the basis for building a comprehensive solution to exploit corn yield potential, which is contributed by 3 factors, including Variety × Environment × Production Management.
The scientists at Vietnam National University of Agriculture have pioneered in the research of utilizing satellite image mining to assess the situation and predict the yield of corn in two important corn producing regions of Vietnam, namely Son La and Dak Lak. The project is interdisciplinary, with the participation of many universities in the field of crop science, earth science, information technology - biological statistics to encourage the improvement of the corn production processes that are appropriate for the ecological conditions of each region and are efficient in production and business.
Seminar on “Exploiting satellite images in assessing the situation and forecasting productivity” held on March 20, 2019 at Vietnam National University of Agriculture with the participation of representatives of the Argentine Embassy in Vietnam, FIRST project’s PMU, Fulbright Program, Kansas State University, Research Institute of Corn, Tay Bac University, Tay Nguyen University, enterprises and scientists of Vietnam National University of Agriculture
Thanks to the support of the Foreign Talents STI Grants under the FIRST Project, Assoc. Prof. Ignacio Ciampitti, Kansas State University, was invited to transfer technological know-how including models and techniques to overcome difficulties in the conditions of Vietnam to evaluate the current status of corn production and forecast corn yield at high accuracy. The results of the project will be applied in policy consultation and management of corn production in Vietnam in the future. This will contribute to the improvement of Vietnam's corn productivity and management of corn production to reach the levels of advanced countries.
Scientists from Kansas State University give a presentation on the approach and techniques of satellite image mining in the USA. The research team of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ignacio succeeded in developing a tool to evaluate the production status and productivity of corn before harvest which is more accurate than the traditional method of the US Department of Agriculture
Assoc. Prof. Ignacio Ciampitti, Kansas State University (USA), is a senior expert in satellite image mining research in crop production, precision agriculture, crop science, extension and crop systems of the Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University. Assoc. Prof. Ignacio Ciampitti together with his colleagues from Kansas State University (USA) and scientists from Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Tay Bac University, and Tay Nguyen University are continuing to improve the corn production evaluation and productivity prediction tool so as to apply it in practice soon. This technology not only assists managers in developing crop structures that are well-suited to natural conditions but also provides information for enterprises and producers to make business and production decisions with the highest efficiency.
International organizations, international and Vietnamese scientists and enterprises participating in the Seminar held on March 20, 2019 at Vietnam National University of Agriculture